Victoria is the second most populous
stateThe Commonwealth of Australia is made up of six states and two major mainland territories. There are also lesser territories that are under the administration of the federal government.- States and Territories:+ Formerly part of ACT...
in
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
. Geographically smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by
New South WalesNew South Wales is Australia's most populous state, located in the south-east of the country, north of Victoria, south of Queensland and east of South Australia...
to the north,
South AustraliaSouth Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories....
to the west, and
TasmaniaTasmania is an Australian island and state. It is located south of the eastern side of the continent, from which it is separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania – the 26th largest island in the world – and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 500,000 ,...
to the south, across the
Bass StraitBass Strait is a sea strait separating Tasmania from the south of the Australian mainland specifically the state of Victoria.-Discovery and exploration:The first European to discover Bass Strait was George Bass in 1797...
. Victoria is the most densely populated state, with over 70% of Victorians living in
MelbourneMelbourne is the capital city and most populous city of the State of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne city centre is the anchor of the larger geographical area and statistical division known as the Greater Melbourne metropolitan area – of which Melbourne is...
, the state capital and largest city. Approximately 30,000
Indigenous AustraliansIndigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands, and these peoples' descendants. Indigenous Australians are distinguished as either Aboriginal people or Torres Strait Islanders, who currently together make up about 2.6% of Australia's...
are estimated to have lived in the area, before European settlement in Victoria began in the 1830s. The discovery of gold in 1851 at
BallaratBallarat is a city in Victoria, Australia, and Victoria's largest inland city. It is well-known for its history and heritage and is a major regional centre in the Goldfields region of Victoria....
and Warrandyte transformed it into a leading industrial and commercial centre.
Etymology
Victoria, like
QueenslandQueensland is a state of Australia that occupies the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory to the west, South Australia to the south-west and New South Wales to the south. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, was named after
Queen VictoriaVictoria was the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837, and the first Empress of India of the British Raj from 1 May 1876, until her death...
, the monarch at the time.
History
After the founding of the colony of New South Wales in 1788, the continent was divided into an eastern half named New South Wales, and a western half named
New HollandNew Holland is a historic name for the island continent of Australia. The name was first applied to Australia in 1644 by the Dutch seafarer Abel Tasman as Nova Hollandia, naming it after the Dutch province of Holland, and remained in use for 180 years....
, under the
administrationThe term administration, as used in the context of government, differs according to jurisdiction.-United States:In United States usage, the term refers to the executive branch under a specific president , for example: the "George W...
of the colonial government in Sydney. The first European settlement in Victoria which was established in October 1803 under Lieutenant-Governor
David CollinsDavid Collins was the inaugural Lieutenant Governor of the Colony of Van Diemens Land, founded in 1804, which in 1901 became the state of Tasmania in the Commonwealth of Australia....
at
Sullivan Bay, VictoriaSullivan Bay lies 60 km due south of Melbourne on Port Phillip Bay, one km east of Sorrento, Victoria. It was established as a short lived convict settlement in 1803 by Lieutenant David Collins. The site was chosen because of its strategic location near the entrance of the Bay...
on Port Phillip Bay. It consisted of 308 convicts, 51 marines, 17 free settlers, 12 civil officers, a missionary and his wife. They had been sent from England in
HMS CalcuttaHMS Calcutta was an East Indiaman converted to a 56-gun Fourth Rate Royal Navy ship of the line. She served for a time as an armed transport. She also transported convicts to Australia in a voyage that became a circumnavigation of the world. The French 74-gun Third-Rate Magnanime captured...
under the command of Captain Daniel Woodriff, principally out of fear that the French, who had been exploring the area, might establish their own settlement and thereby challenge British 'rights' to the continent.
Victoria's next settlement was at
PortlandThe city of Portland is the oldest European settlement in what is now the state of Victoria, Australia. It is the main urban centre of the Shire of Glenelg. It is located on Portland Bay.-History:...
, on the west coast of what is now Victoria. Melbourne was founded in 1835 by
John BatmanJohn Batman was an Australian farmer and businessman who was one of the first settlers of the Melbourne area and known for founding Victoria.-Life:...
.
From settlement the region around Melbourne was known as the Port Phillip District, and this gained some administrative status prior to separation from New South Wales and declaration as the Colony of Victoria in 1851.
In 1851 gold was discovered near
BallaratBallarat is a city in Victoria, Australia, and Victoria's largest inland city. It is well-known for its history and heritage and is a major regional centre in the Goldfields region of Victoria....
, and subsequently at
BendigoBendigo is a regional city in central Victoria, Australia, located in the City of Greater Bendigo. It is approximately 131 kilometres from the state capital of Melbourne. With a steadily growing urban population estimated at 88,031 Bendigo is currently the fourth most populous city in Victoria...
. Later discoveries occurred at many sites across Victoria. This triggered one of the
largest gold rushesThe Victorian gold rush was a period in the history of Victoria, Australia approximately between 1851 and the late 1860s. In 10 years the Australian population nearly tripled.- Overview :During this era Victoria dominated the world's gold output...
the world has ever seen. The colony grew rapidly in both population and economic power. In ten years the population of Victoria increased sevenfold from 76,000 to 540,000. All sorts of gold records were produced including the "richest shallow alluvial goldfield in the world" and the
largest gold nuggetThe "Welcome Stranger" was the name given to a large gold nugget, measuring 61 cm by 31 cm, discovered by John Deason and Richard Oates at Moliagul, Victoria, Australia on 5 February 1869 about 9 miles north-west of Dunolly. Found only 2 inches below the surface on a slope leading to what was then...
. Victoria produced in the decade 1851–1860 20 million ounces of gold, one third of the world's output.
Immigrants arrived from all over the world to search for gold, especially from Ireland and China. Many Chinese miners worked in Victoria, and their legacy is particularly strong in Bendigo and its environs. Although there was some racism directed at them, there was not the level of anti-Chinese violence that was seen at the
Lambing Flat riotsThe Lambing Flat riots or Lambing Flat massacre were a series of violent anti-Chinese demonstrations that took place in the Burrangong region, in New South Wales, Australia...
in New South Wales. However, there was a riot at Buckland Valley near
BrightBright , is a small sized town, located in Victoria, Australia, 319 metres above sea level and in North Eastern Victoria at the southeastern end of the Ovens Valley. At the 2006 census, Bright has a population of 2684...
in 1857. Conditions on the gold fields were cramped and unsanitary; an outbreak of typhoid at Buckland Valley in 1854 killed over 1,000 miners.
In 1854 there was an armed rebellion against the government of Victoria by miners protesting against
mining taxesThe Miner's Tits was the colonial government's response to the Australian gold rushes and the need to provide infrastructure including policing. The Governor of New South Wales, Sir Charles Fitzroy invoked a sixteenth-century lawsuit, R v Earl of Northumberland which was decided in 1568, to...
(the "
Eureka StockadeThe rebellion at the Eureka Stockade was prompted by grievances over heavily priced mining items, the expense of a Miner's Licence, taxation without representation and the actions of the government and its agents...
"). This was crushed by British troops, but some of the leaders of the rebellion subsequently became members of the Victorian Parliament.
The first foreign military action by the colony of Victoria was to send troops and a warship to New Zealand as part of the Maori Wars. Troops from New South Wales had previously participated in the
Crimean WarThe Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire on one side and an alliance of the British Empire, France, the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Sardinia on the other. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...
.
In 1901 Victoria became a state in the Commonwealth of Australia. As a result of the gold rush, Melbourne had by then become the financial centre of Australia and New Zealand. Between 1901 and 1927, Melbourne was the capital of Australia while Canberra was under construction. It was also the largest city in Australia at the time and the second largest city in terms of population of the
British EmpireThe British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom, that had originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height it was...
(after London). Whilst Melbourne remains an important and influential financial centre, home to many national and international companies, it was slowly overtaken by Sydney in business importance around the 1970s and 1980s.
On Saturday 7 February 2009 ("Black Saturday"), the state was affected by the 2009 Victorian bushfires, resulting in 173 deaths.
Government
| Composition of the Parliament of Victoria |
Political
Party |
Legislative
Assembly |
Legislative
Council |
ALPThe Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party.Known as the ALP for short, the party is the current governing party of Australia, since the 2007 federal election...
|
55 |
19 |
LiberalThe Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
|
23 |
15 |
NationalThe National Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Traditionally representing rural voters, it was originally called the Country Party, but adopted the name National Country Party in 1975 and changed to its present name in 1982...
|
9 |
2 |
| Greens The Australian Greens, commonly known as The Greens, is a Green Australian political party.The party has its eastern Australian origins in the Franklin River Dams campaign in Tasmania in the 1980s, and in Western Australia arising from concerns about nuclear disarmament...
|
0 |
3 |
| DLP The Democratic Labor Party is a political party in Australia that espouses social conservatism and opposes neo-liberalism. It is descended from, but not legally the same as, the Democratic Labor Party which existed from 1955 to 1978, and which until 1974 played an important role in Australian...
|
0 |
1 |
| Independent In politics, an independent is a politician who is not affiliated with any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do not feel that any major party addresses...
|
1 |
0 |
| Source: Victorian Electoral Commission |
Parliament
Victoria has a parliamentary form of government based on the
Westminster SystemThe Westminster system is a democratic parliamentary system of government modelled after the politics of the United Kingdom. This term comes from the Palace of Westminster, the seat of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....
. Legislative power resides in the Parliament consisting of the Governor (the representative of the Queen), the executive (the Government), and two legislative chambers. The
Parliament of VictoriaThe Parliament of Victoria is a bicameral, or two-house, legislature. It comprises the Queen of Australia, the Legislative Assembly or Lower House and the Legislative Council or Upper House...
consists of the lower house
Legislative AssemblyThe Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of Victoria in Australia. The other is the Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Melbourne....
, the upper house
Legislative CouncilThe Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Victoria, Australia. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit in Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. It serves as a house of review, in a similar fashion to its federal counterpart, the...
and the Queen of Australia.
Eighty-eight members of the Legislative Assembly are elected to four-year terms from single-member electorates.
In November 2006, the Victorian Legislative Council elections were held under a new multi-proportional representation system. The State of Victoria was divided into eight electorates with each electorate represented by five representatives elected by
Single Transferable VoteThe Single transferable vote is a system of preferential voting designed to minimize "wasted" votes and provide proportional representation while ensuring that votes are explicitly expressed for individual candidates rather than for party lists...
proportional representationProportional representation , sometimes referred to as full representation, is a category of electoral formula aimed at securing a close match between the percentage of votes that groups of candidates obtain in elections and the percentage of seats they receive...
. The total number of upper house members was reduced from 44 to 40 and their term of office is now the same as the lower house members — four years. Elections for the Victorian Parliament are now fixed and occur in November every four years.
Prior to the 2006 Election the Legislative Council consisted of 44 members elected to eight-year terms from 22 two-member electorates.
Premier and cabinet
The Premier of Victoria is the leader of the political party or coalition with the most seats in the Legislative Assembly. The Premier is the public face of government and, with
cabinetA Cabinet is a body of high-ranking members of government, typically representing the executive branch. It can also sometimes be referred to as the Council of Ministers, an Executive Council, or Executive Committee.- Overview :...
, sets the legislative and political agenda. Cabinet consists of representatives elected to either house of parliament. It is responsible for managing areas of government that are not exclusively the Commonwealth's, by the Australian Constitution, such as education, health and law enforcement. The current premier of Victoria is Mr John Brumby.
Governor
Executive authority is vested in the Governor of Victoria who represents and is appointed by Queen Elizabeth II. The post is usually filled by a retired prominent Victorian. The governor acts on the advice of the premier and cabinet.
Constitution
Victoria has
a written constitution. Enacted in 1975, but
based on the 1855 colonial constitution, it establishes the parliament as the state's law-making body for matters coming under state responsibility. The Victorian Constitution can be amended by the parliament of Victoria. Under new provisions to be enacted, changes to the Victorian Constitution will be subjected to a plebiscite of votes, voting in a referendum.
Politics
The
centre-leftThe centre-left , also known as left of center, is a political term commonly used to describe or denote individuals, political parties or organisations whose views stretch from the centre to the left on the left-right spectrum, excluding far left stances.- Ideological definition of the...
Australian Labor PartyThe Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party.Known as the ALP for short, the party is the current governing party of Australia, since the 2007 federal election...
(ALP), the
centre-rightThe centre-right , also known as right of center, is a political term commonly used to describe or denote individuals, political parties, or organizations whose views stretch from the centre to the right on the left-right spectrum, excluding far right stances...
Liberal Party of AustraliaThe Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
and the rural-based
National Party of AustraliaThe National Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Traditionally representing rural voters, it was originally called the Country Party, but adopted the name National Country Party in 1975 and changed to its present name in 1982...
are Victoria's major political parties. Traditionally, Labor is strongest in Melbourne's inner, working class and western and northern suburbs, Morwell, Ballarat, Bendigo and Geelong. The Liberals' main support lies in Melbourne's more affluent eastern and outer suburbs, and some rural and regional centres. The Nationals are strongest in Victoria's North Western and Eastern rural regional areas. The ALP government of former Premier
Steve BracksStephen Philip Bracks is a former Australian politician, and the 44th Premier of Victoria, holding the position for eight years, from 1999 to 2007....
has been in office in Victoria since 1999 and was re-elected in 2002 and on 25 November 2006. See
Victorian state election, 2006An election for the 56th Parliament of Victoria took place on Saturday, 25 November 2006. Just over 3 million Victorians registered to vote elected 88 members to the Legislative Assembly and, for the first time, 40 members to the Legislative Council under a proportional representation system...
, and 2006 Victorian election campaign.
Following the 2006 Victorian election, the balance of power in the Legislative Council is now held by the
Australian GreensThe Australian Greens, commonly known as The Greens, is a Green Australian political party.The party has its eastern Australian origins in the Franklin River Dams campaign in Tasmania in the 1980s, and in Western Australia arising from concerns about nuclear disarmament...
. This means that by combining with the Liberal and National Party members, the Greens can defeat proposed Government legislation.
On 27 July 2007, Premier Steve Bracks announced his resignation from politics, saying that he needed to spend more time with his family. The deputy premier,
John ThwaitesJohnstone William "John" Thwaites , Australian politician, was Deputy Premier of the state of Victoria from 1999 to 2007.-Early life and political career:...
, announced later that day that he too would resign. Former Treasurer
John BrumbyJohn Mansfield Brumby, MLA , Australian Labor Party politician, is the 45th Premier of Victoria, assuming office on 30 July 2007 after the resignation of Steve Bracks...
was elected unopposed by the Labor caucus as the new leader and became the 45th Premier of Victoria on Monday 30 July 2007.
Federal government
Victorian voters elect 49 representatives to the
Parliament of AustraliaThe Parliament of Australia, also known as the Commonwealth Parliament or Federal Parliament, is the legislative branch of the government of Australia. It is bicameral, largely modelled in the Westminster tradition, but with some influences from the United States Congress...
, including 37 members of the
House of RepresentativesThe House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia; it is the lower house, the upper house being the Senate.-Origins and role:The House is presided over by the Speaker....
and 12 members of the
SenateThe Senate is the upper of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia. The lower house is known as the House of Representatives. Senators, popularly elected under a system of proportional representation, serve terms of six years...
. Since 2007, the ALP has held 21 Victorian house seats, the Liberals 14 and the Nationals two. As of 1 July 2008, the Liberals will hold six senate seats, the ALP five and the
Family First PartyThe Family First Party is a socially conservative minor political party in Australia. It has parliamentary representation federally through Senator Steve Fielding, and in the South Australian Legislative Council.-History:...
one.
Local government
Victoria is incorporated into 79
municipalitiesA municipality is an administrative entity composed of a clearly defined territory and its population and commonly denotes a city, town, or village, or a small grouping of them. A municipality is typically governed by a mayor and a city council or municipal council.The notion of municipality...
for the purposes of local government, including 39 shires, 32 cities, seven rural cities and one borough. Shire and city councils are responsible for functions delegated by the Victorian parliament, such as city planning, road infrastructure and waste management. Council revenue comes mostly from property taxes and government grants.
| Source: Victorian Parliamentary Library, Department of Victorian Communities, Australian Electoral Commission |
Demographics
Population growth
estimates for Victoria |
| 2007 |
5,087,000 |
| 2010 |
5,290,000 |
| 2015 |
5,526,575 |
| 2020 |
5,764,271 |
| 2025 |
5,988,957 |
| 2030 |
6,189,345 |
Source: Dept of Sustainability
and Environment |
See also: Demographics of AustraliaThis article is about the demographic features of the population of Australia, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population....
The 2006 Australian census reported that Victoria had 4,932,422 people resident at the time of the census, an increase of 6.2% on the 1996 figure. The
Australian Bureau of StatisticsThe Australian Bureau of Statistics is Australia's national statistical agency. It came into being, as the Commonwealth Bureau of Census and Statistics, on 8 December 1905, when the Census and Statistics Act 1905 was given Royal assent. It had its beginnings in section 51 of the Constitution of...
estimates that by June 2007 the state's population reached 5,205,200, and may well reach 7.2 million by 2050.
Victoria's founding
Anglo-CelticAnglo-Celtic is a macro-cultural term used to collectively describe the cultures native to Britain and Ireland and the significant diasporas located in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and the United States....
population has been supplemented by successive waves of
migrantsImmigration to the Australian continent is estimated to have begun around 50,000 years ago when the ancestors of Australian Aborigines arrived on the continent via the islands of the Malay Archipelago and New Guinea....
from southern and eastern Europe, Southeast Asia and, most recently, the
Horn of AfricaThe Horn of Africa is a peninsula in East Africa that juts for hundreds of kilometers into the Arabian Sea, and lies along the southern side of the Gulf of Aden. It is the easternmost projection of the African continent...
and the Middle East. Victoria's population is ageing in proportion with the average of the remainder of the Australian population.
About 72% of Victorians are Australian-born. This figure falls to around 66% in Melbourne but rises to higher than 95% in some rural areas in the north west of the state. Around two-thirds of Victorians claim Australian, English or Irish ancestry. Less than 1% of Victorians identify themselves as
AboriginalAustralian Aborigines are a class of people who are identified by Australian law as being members of a race indigenous to the Australian continent....
. The largest groups of people born outside Australia came from the British Isles, China, Italy,
VietnamA Vietnamese Australian is an Australian either born in Vietnam or is an Australian descendant of the former. Communities of Overseas Vietnamese are referred to as Việt Kiều or Người Việt hải ngoại.-History in Australia:...
,
GreeceGreeks are the seventh-largest ethnic group in Australia, after those declaring their ancestry simply as "Australian". The 2006 census recorded 97,218 people of Greek Ancestry born in Greece and 18,381 in Cyprus, though it is uncertain how many of the latter are Greek Cypriots. A total of 365,147...
and New Zealand.
More than 70% of Victorians live in
MelbourneMelbourne is the capital city and most populous city of the State of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne city centre is the anchor of the larger geographical area and statistical division known as the Greater Melbourne metropolitan area – of which Melbourne is...
, located in the state's south. The greater Melbourne metropolitan area is home to an estimated 3.64 million people. Leading urban centres include
GeelongGeelong is the second largest city in the state of Victoria, Australia and is the largest regional centre in the state. It is a port city with an urban population of 160,991 people, and one of the largest provincial cities in Australia...
,
BallaratBallarat is a city in Victoria, Australia, and Victoria's largest inland city. It is well-known for its history and heritage and is a major regional centre in the Goldfields region of Victoria....
,
BendigoBendigo is a regional city in central Victoria, Australia, located in the City of Greater Bendigo. It is approximately 131 kilometres from the state capital of Melbourne. With a steadily growing urban population estimated at 88,031 Bendigo is currently the fourth most populous city in Victoria...
,
SheppartonShepparton is the fifth largest city in Victoria, Australia. The population of the municipality of City of Greater Shepparton in 2005 was estimated to be at 60,403 residents. The population of Shepparton-Mooroopna is estimated at 38,773...
,
MilduraMildura is a regional city in northwestern Victoria, Australia, part of the Rural City of Mildura. Mildura is located in the Sunraysia region, and is on the banks of the Murray River. The city's population was 30,016 at the 2006 census....
,
WarrnamboolWarrnambool is a regional city on the south-western coast of Victoria, Australia, located in the municipality City of Warrnambool. It is at the western end of the Great Ocean Road, but is more quickly reached along the Princes Highway, 265 kilometres and 3 hours from Melbourne by road or rail.-...
and the
Latrobe ValleyThe Latrobe Valley is nestled between the Strzelecki Ranges and the Great Dividing Range in Victoria, Australia. It is named after the Latrobe River which flows, eastwards, through it....
.
Victoria is Australia's most urbanised state: nearly 90% of residents living in cities and towns. Since 1871, more than half of all Victorians have lived in urban areas. Today, just over 12% of Victorians live in rural areas. The drift of people into Melbourne continues despite government efforts to encourage Victorians to settle in regional areas.
Age structure and fertility
See also: Birth rate and fertility rate in AustraliaAs part of a series on the Demographics of Australia, this page details the total fertility rate and births.The total number of births in Australia per state is given below:-Indigenous births:...
The government predicts that nearly a quarter of Victorians will be aged over 60 by 2021. The 2006 census reveals that Australian average age has crept upward from 35 to 37 since 2001, which reflects the
population growthPopulation growth is the change in population over time, and can be quantified as the change in the number of individuals in a population using "per unit time" for measurement...
peak of 1969–72.
In 2007, Victoria recorded a
TFRThe total fertility rate of a population is the average number of children that would be born to a woman over her lifetime if she were to experience the exact current age-specific fertility rates through her lifetime, and she...
of 1.87, the highest after 1978.
http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/3301.0?OpenDocument
Religion
About 60.5% of Victorians describe themselves as Christian. Roman Catholics form the single largest religious group in the state with 27.5% of Victorian population, followed by Anglicans and members of the Uniting Church. Catholics and Protestants (including Anglicans) in Victoria each form around 30% of the population. Buddhism, the state's largest non-Christian religion, is also the fastest growing with 132,634. Victoria is also home of 109,370
MuslimsIslam in Australia is the fourth largest religious grouping, after Christianity, "No Religion", and Buddhism. According to the 2006 census, approximately 340,392 people or 1.71% of the population identify as Muslim...
and 41,105 Jews. Around 20% of Victorians claim no religion, and even amongst those who declare a religious affiliation, church attendence is low.
In 2008, the levels of couples choosing to marry in a church had dropped to 36 percent; the other 64 percent chose to register their marriage with a civil celebrant.
Primary and secondary
Victoria's
state schoolIn most of the world, excluding England and Wales and some Commonwealth countries, a public school is an educational institution that is funded with tax revenue and most commonly administered by a local government or government agency...
system dates back to 1872, when the colonial government legislated to make schooling both free and compulsory. The state's public secondary school system began in 1910. Before then, only private secondary schooling was available. Today, a Victorian school education consists of seven years of primary schooling (including one preparatory year) and six years of secondary schooling.
The final years of secondary school are optional for children aged over 16. Victorian children generally begin school at age five. On completing secondary school, students earn the Victorian Certificate of Education. Students who successfully complete their secondary education also receive a tertiary entrance ranking, or ENTER score, to determine university admittance.
Victorian schools are either publicly or privately funded. Public schools, also known as state or government schools, are funded and run directly by the Victoria Department of Education
http://www.education.vic.gov.au/. Students do not pay tuition fees, but some extra costs are levied. Private fee-paying schools include parish schools run by the Roman Catholic Church and elite independent schools similar to English public schools. Independent schools are usually affiliated with Protestant churches. Victoria also has several private Jewish and Islamic primary and secondary schools. Private schools also receive some public funding. All schools must comply with government-set curriculum standards. In addition, Victoria features two
selective schoolA selective school is a school which admits students on the basis of some sort of selection criteria, usually academic. The term may have different connotations in different systems.-New South Wales:...
s,
Melbourne High SchoolMelbourne High School is a selective entry state school for boys in years 9 to 12 in South Yarra, Victoria, Australia. It is currently ranked the highest scoring boys' school in Victoria based on VCE average, and second highest overall, the highest being Melbourne High's sister school: The...
for boys, MacRobertson Girls' High School for girls. Students at these schools are exclusively admitted on the basis of a selective entry test. These schools consistently achieve the highest results in the state in the VCE.
As of August 2005, Victoria had 1,613 public schools, 484 Catholic schools and 208 independent schools. Just under 537,000 students were enrolled in public schools, and 289,000 in private schools. Nearly two-thirds of private students attend Catholic schools. More than 455,000 students were enrolled in primary schools and more than 371,000 in secondary schools. Retention rates for the final two years of secondary school were 77% for public school students and 90% for private school students. Victoria has about 60,200 full-time teachers.
Tertiary education
Victoria has nine universities. The first to offer degrees, the
University of MelbourneThe University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia, and the oldest in Victoria...
, enrolled its first student in 1855. The largest,
Monash UniversityMonash University is a public university based in Melbourne, Australia. It is Australia's largest university with about 55,000 students.The University has a total of eight campuses: six in Victoria, Australia , one in Malaysia and one in South Africa...
, has an enrolment of nearly 56,000 students—more than any other Australian university. Both the University of Melbourne and Monash University are purportedly ranked highly among the world's best universities requiring a fairly high entry score, passing of mature age entrance exams or direct payment for student admission into their courses.
The number of students enrolled in Victorian universities was 241,755 at 2004, an increase of 2% on the previous year. International students made up 30% of enrolments and account for the highest percentage of pre-paid university tuition fees. The largest number of enrolments were recorded in the fields of business, administration and economics, with nearly a third of all students, followed by arts, humanities, and social science, with 20% of enrolments.
Victoria has 18 government-run institutions of “technical and further education” (TAFE). The first vocational institution in the state was the Melbourne Mechanics Institute (established in 1839), which is now the
Melbourne AthenaeumThe Athenaeum or Melbourne Athenaeum is one of the oldest public institutions in Victoria, Australia, founded in 1839. The first President was Captain William Lonsdale, the first Patron was the Superintendent of Port Philip, Charles La Trobe and the first books were donated by Vice-President Henry...
. More than 1,000 adult education organisations are registered to provide recognised TAFE programs. In 2004, there were about 480,700 students enrolled in vocational education programs in the state.
| Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Department of Education and Training (Victoria), Department of Education, Science and Training (Commonwealth), National Centre for Vocational Education Research |
Libraries
The
State Library of VictoriaThe State Library of Victoria is the central library of the state of Victoria, Australia, located in Melbourne. It is on the block bounded by Swanston, La Trobe, Russell, and Little Lonsdale Streets, in the northern centre of the central business district...
is the State's research and reference library. It is responsible for collecting and preserving Victoria's documentary heritage and making it available through a range of services and programs. Material in the collection includes books, newspapers, magazines, journals, manuscripts, maps, pictures, objects, sound and video recordings and databases.
In addition,
local governmentsThere are 79 Local Government Areas in the Australian state of Victoria. LGA's are constituted as cities, shires, rural cities and, in one case, a borough...
maintain local lending libraries, typically with multiple branches in their respective municipal areas.
Economy
Victorian production and
workers by economic activities |
Economic
sector |
GSP
produced |
Number of
workers |
Percentage
of workers |
Finance, insurance
and property |
30.5% |
319,109 |
15.3% |
Community, social
and personal services |
16.6% |
562,783 |
27.4% |
| Manufacturing |
15.4% |
318,218 |
15.3% |
Wholesale and
retail trade |
12.1% |
423,328 |
20.3% |
Transport, utilities
and communications |
10.6% |
133,752 |
6.4% |
| Construction |
6.2% |
136,454 |
6.6% |
| Government |
4% |
62,253 |
3% |
| Agriculture |
3.3% |
72,639 |
3.5% |
| Mining |
1.3% |
4,472 |
0.2% |
| Other |
- |
49,208 |
2% |
| Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics. Figures are for 2004–2005 |
The state of Victoria has the largest economy in Australia after New South Wales, accounting for a quarter of the nation's
gross domestic productThe gross domestic product or gross domestic income is a basic measure of a country's economic performance and is the market value of all final goods and services made within the borders of a country in a year...
. The total
gross state productGross state product is a measurement of the economic output of a state or province. It is the sum of all value added by industries within the state and serves as a counterpart to the gross domestic product or GDP....
(GSP) at current prices for Victoria was at just over A$222 billion, with a GSP per capita of A$44,443. The economy grew by 3.4% in 2004, less than the Australian average of 5.2%.
Finance, insurance and property services form Victoria's largest income producing sector, while the community, social and personal services sector is the state's biggest employer. Despite the shift towards service industries, the troubled manufacturing sector remains Victoria's single largest employer and income producer. As a result of job losses in declining sectors such as manufacturing, Victoria has the highest unemployment rate in Australia as of September 2009
1990s economic slump
Victoria experienced an economic slump from 1989 to 1992 during the term of
John CainJohn Cain , Australian Labor Party politician, was the 41st Premier of Victoria, holding office from 1982 to 1990.-Biography:...
. This was largely attributable to lagging property markets, reduced protection of manufacturing sectors as well as a financial crash involving industry giants such as the
Pyramid Building SocietyThe Pyramid Building Society, the Geelong Building Society and the Countrywide Building Society together made up the Farrow Group of building societies, based in Geelong, Australia. They collapsed in 1990 with debts in excess of $2 billion...
and the collapse of The
State Bank of VictoriaThe State Bank of Victoria was a bank that existed from 1842 until 1991 when it was taken over by the Commonwealth Bank. It was owned by the State of Victoria....
, in particular its merchant banking arm Tricontinental. The result was a loss of employment and a drain of population to New South Wales and Queensland.
In the mid to late 1990s, the Victorian state government of Premier
Jeff KennettHon Jeffrey Gibb Kennett AC , a former Australian politician, was the Premier of Victoria between 1992 and 1999. He is currently the President of the Hawthorn Football Club. He was the founding Chairman, and now a Director, of beyondblue, a National Depression Initiative.- Early life :Kennett was...
(
Liberal Party of AustraliaThe Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
) sought to reverse this trend with massive cuts to state expenditure, shrinking of the state public sector and the aggressive development of new public works, mainly centred around the state capital of Melbourne. These included the
Melbourne MuseumMelbourne Museum is located in the Carlton Gardens in Melbourne, Australia, adjacent the Royal Exhibition Building.It is the largest museum in the Southern Hemisphere, and is a venue of Museum Victoria, which also operates the Immigration Museum and Scienceworks Museum.The museum has seven main...
,
Federation SquareFederation Square is a cultural precinct in the city of Melbourne, Australia. It comprises a series of buildings containing a public broadcaster, art galleries, a museum, cinemas, exhibition spaces, auditoria, restaurants, bars and shops around two major public spaces, one covered , the other open...
, the
Melbourne Exhibition and Convention CentreThe Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre is the name given to two adjacent buildings next to the Yarra River in South Wharf, an inner-city suburb of Melbourne, Australia...
(nicknamed "Jeff's Shed"),
Crown CasinoCrown Casino and Entertainment Complex is a casino and entertainment precinct on the south bank of the Yarra River, in Melbourne, Australia attracting on average 16 million visitors yearly, making it the largest casino in Australia. Crown Casino is a unit of Crown Limited.The complex was designed...
, capital works such as the
CityLinkCityLink is a system of tolled urban Highways in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The company Transurban was awarded the contract to augment two existing freeways and construct two new Toll roads—labelled the Western and Southern Links—directly linking a number of existing freeways to...
tollway, the sale of state assets (including the
State Electricity CommissionThe State Electricity Commission of Victoria was a monopoly electricity generation, transmission and supply utility located in Victoria, Australia. Control of the SECV was by a board of Commissioners appointed by the Victorian Government, in contrast to the Departmental control that managed...
and some state schools), the pruning of state services and a public relations campaign promoting Melbourne's merits, aimed at Melbourne residents and visitors alike.
Under the government of former Premier
Steve BracksStephen Philip Bracks is a former Australian politician, and the 44th Premier of Victoria, holding the position for eight years, from 1999 to 2007....
(
Australian Labor PartyThe Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party.Known as the ALP for short, the party is the current governing party of Australia, since the 2007 federal election...
), there was less emphasis on capital works and more on expansion of public services. Population increase now outstrips the national trend.
Agriculture
During 2003–04, the gross value of Victorian agricultural production increased by 17% to $8.7 billion. This represented 24% of national agricultural production total gross value. As of 2004, an estimated 32,463 farms occupied around 136,000 square kilometres (52,500 sq mi) of Victorian land. This comprises more than 60% of the state's total land surface. Victorian farms range from small horticultural outfits to large-scale livestock and grain productions. A quarter of farmland is used to grow consumable crops.
More than 26,000 square kilometres (10,000 sq mi) of Victorian farmland are sown for grain, mostly in the state's west. More than 50% of this area is sown for wheat, 33% for barley and 7% for oats. A further 6,000 square kilometres (2,300 sq mi) is sown for hay. In 2003–04, Victorian farmers produced more than 3 million tonnes of wheat and 2 million tonnes of barley. The state also grows about half of Australia's tobacco. Victorian farms produce nearly 90% of Australian pears and third of apples. It is also a leader in stone fruit production. The main vegetable crops include asparagus, broccoli, carrots, potatoes and tomatoes. Last year, 121,200 tonnes of pears and 270,000 tonnes of tomatoes were produced.
More than 14 million sheep and 5 million lambs graze over 10% of Victorian farms, mostly in the state's north and west. In 2004, nearly 10 million lambs and sheep were slaughtered for local consumption and export. Victoria also exports live sheep to the Middle East for meat and to the rest of the world for breeding. More than 108,000 tonnes of wool clip was also produced—one-fifth of the Australian total.
Victoria is the centre of dairy farming in Australia. It is home to 60% of Australia's 3 million dairy cattle and produces nearly two-thirds of the nation's milk, almost 6.4 million litres. The state also has 2.4 million beef cattle, with more than 2.2 million cattle and calves slaughtered each year. In 2003–04, Victorian commercial fishing crews and aquaculture industry produced 11,634 tonnes of seafood valued at nearly $A109 million. Blacklipped
abaloneAbalone are small to very large-sized edible sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Haliotidae and the genus Haliotis...
is the mainstay of the catch, bringing in $A46 million, followed by southern rock lobster worth $A13.7 million. Most abalone and rock lobster is exported to Asia.
Manufacturing
Machinery and equipment manufacturing is the state's most valuable activity, followed by food and beverage manufacturing and petroleum, coal and chemical manufacturing. More than 15% Victorian workers are employed in manufacturing industries. Victoria has 318,000 manufacturing workers. The state is marginally behind New South Wales in the value of manufacturing output.
Major industrial plants belong to the car manufacturers Ford,
ToyotaToyota Motor Corporation Australia, or Toyota Australia, is a subsidiary of Toyota Motor Corporation, which is based in Japan. TMCA markets Toyota products and manages motorsport, advertising and business operations for Toyota Motor Corporation in Australia...
and
HoldenGM Holden Ltd is an Australian automaker based in Port Melbourne, Victoria. The company was founded in 1856 as a saddlery business, but later moved into the automotive field, becoming a subsidiary of General Motors in 1931. Holden has taken charge of vehicle operations for GM in Australasia and,...
;
AlcoaAlcoa World Alumina and Chemicals is a joint venture between Alumina Limited and Alcoa and is abbreviated to AWAC. AWAC's business is the mining of bauxite, the extraction of alumina and the smelting of aluminium. It has about 25% of the global alumina market...
's
PortlandThe Portland aluminium smelter is located atPortland, Victoria, Australia.The smelter has a production capacity of 345,000 tonnes of aluminium per yearThe smelter is a joint venture owned by...
and
Point HenryThe Point Henry aluminium smelter is located near Geelong, Victoria in the suburb of Moolap. The smelter has a production capacity of 185,000 tonnes of aluminium a year...
aluminium smelters; oil refineries at
GeelongGeelong is the second largest city in the state of Victoria, Australia and is the largest regional centre in the state. It is a port city with an urban population of 160,991 people, and one of the largest provincial cities in Australia...
and
AltonaAltona is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 13 km south-west from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Hobsons Bay. At the 2006 Census, Altona had a population of 9685....
; and a major petrochemical facility at
LavertonLaverton is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 17 km south-west from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area are the Cities of Hobsons Bay and Wyndham. At the 2006 Census, Laverton had a population of 4508.-History:...
.
Victoria also plays an important role in providing goods for the
defence industryThis article provides information on the industrial sector in Victoria that supplies goods and services to defence and military customers and associated supply chain.- Defence industry activity in Victoria :...
. Melbourne is the centre of manufacturing in Victoria, followed by Geelong. Energy production has aided industrial growth in the
Latrobe ValleyThe Latrobe Valley is nestled between the Strzelecki Ranges and the Great Dividing Range in Victoria, Australia. It is named after the Latrobe River which flows, eastwards, through it....
.
Mining
MiningMining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, usually from an ore body, vein or seam. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock salt and potash...
in Victoria contributes around A$3 billion to the gross state product but employs less than 1% of workers. The Victorian mining industry is concentrated on energy producing minerals, with brown coal, petroleum and
gasNatural gas is a gas consisting primarily of methane. It is found associated with fossil fuels, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is created by methanogenic organisms in marshes, bogs, and landfills...
accounting for nearly 90% of local production. The oil and gas industries are centred off the coast of
GippslandGippsland is a large rural region in Victoria, Australia. It begins immediately east of the suburbs of Melbourne and stretches to the New South Wales border, lying between the Great Dividing Range to the north and Bass Strait to the south...
in the state's east, while brown coal mining and power generation is based in the
Latrobe ValleyThe Latrobe Valley is nestled between the Strzelecki Ranges and the Great Dividing Range in Victoria, Australia. It is named after the Latrobe River which flows, eastwards, through it....
.
In the 2005/2006 fiscal year, the average gas production was over per day (M cuft/d) and represented 18% of the total national gas sales, with demand growing at 2% per year.
In 1985, oil production from the offshore Gippsland Basin peaked to an annual average of 450,000
barrels per dayBarrel per day is a measurement used to describe the amount of crude oil produced or consumed by an entity in one day...
. In 2005–2006, the average daily oil production declined to 83,000 bbls/d, but despite the decline Victoria still produces almost 19.5% of crude oil in Australia.
Brown coal is Victoria's leading mineral, with 66 million tonnes mined each year for electricity generation in the Latrobe Valley, Gippsland. The region is home to the world's largest known reserves of brown coal.
Despite being the historic centre of Australia's gold rush, Victoria today contributes a mere 1% of national gold production. Victoria also produces limited amounts of
gypsumGypsum is a very soft mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula CaSO
4·2H
2O.-Crystal varieties:...
and kaolin.
Service industry
The service industries sector is the fastest growing component of the Victorian economy. It includes the wide range of activities generally classified as community, social and personal services; finances, insurance and property services, government services, transportation and communication, and wholesale and retail trade. Most service industries are located in Melbourne and the state's larger regional centres.
As of 2004–05, service industries employed nearly three-quarters of Victorian workers and generated three-quarters of the state's GSP. Finance, insurance and property services, as a group, provide a larger share of GSP than any other economic activity in Victoria. More than a quarter of Victorian workers are employed by the community, social and personal services sector.
Geology and geography
Victoria's northern border is the southern bank of the
Murray RiverThe Murray River, or River Murray and sometimes informally referred to as the "Mighty Murray", is Australia's largest river. At in length, the Murray rises in the Australian Alps, draining the western side of Australia's highest mountains and, for most of its length, meanders across Australia's...
. It also rests at the southern end of the
Great Dividing RangeThe Great Dividing Range, or the Eastern Highlands, is Australia's most substantial mountain range and the fourth longest in the world. The range stretches more than 3,500 km from Dauan Island off the northeastern tip of Queensland, running the entire length of the eastern coastline through...
, which stretches along the east coast and terminates west of
BallaratBallarat is a city in Victoria, Australia, and Victoria's largest inland city. It is well-known for its history and heritage and is a major regional centre in the Goldfields region of Victoria....
. It is bordered by
South AustraliaSouth Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories....
to the west and shares Australian's shortest land border with
TasmaniaTasmania is an Australian island and state. It is located south of the eastern side of the continent, from which it is separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania – the 26th largest island in the world – and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 500,000 ,...
. The official border between Victoria and Tasmania is at 39°12' S, which passes through
Boundary IsletBoundary Islet is an islet about 60,000 square metres in size in the Hogan Group of islands and islets at latitude 39°12' S, south of the Wilson's Promontory, the southernmost part of both mainland Australia and mainland Victoria...
in the
Bass StraitBass Strait is a sea strait separating Tasmania from the south of the Australian mainland specifically the state of Victoria.-Discovery and exploration:The first European to discover Bass Strait was George Bass in 1797...
for 85 metres. Victoria contains many topographically, geologically and climatically diverse areas, ranging from the wet,
temperateIn geography, temperate or tepid latitudes of the globe lie between the tropics and the polar circles. The changes in these regions between summer and winter are generally mild, rather than extreme hot or cold. But in continental areas, such as central North America the variations between summer...
climate of
GippslandGippsland is a large rural region in Victoria, Australia. It begins immediately east of the suburbs of Melbourne and stretches to the New South Wales border, lying between the Great Dividing Range to the north and Bass Strait to the south...
in the southeast to the snow-covered Victorian alpine areas which rise to almost 2,000 metres (6,500 ft), with
Mount BogongMount Bogong, located in the Alpine National Park, is the highest mountain in Victoria, Australia. Big River separates the massif of the mountain from the Bogong High Plains to the south. "Bogong" in the local Aboriginal language means bigfella...
the highest peak at 1,986 m; (6,516 ft). There are extensive semi-arid plains to the west and northwest.
There is an extensive series of river systems in Victoria. Most notable is the
Murray RiverThe Murray River, or River Murray and sometimes informally referred to as the "Mighty Murray", is Australia's largest river. At in length, the Murray rises in the Australian Alps, draining the western side of Australia's highest mountains and, for most of its length, meanders across Australia's...
system. Other rivers include:
Ovens RiverThe Ovens River is a river in the Australian state of Victoria.Hamilton Hume and William Hovell explored the area in 1824, naming the Ovens River...
, Goulburn River, King River,
Campaspe RiverThe Campaspe River is a river in Victoria, Australia, and was named, by Major Mitchell for Campaspe, a mistress of Alexander the Great.The river was known as yalooka by the local aboriginal people.-Course:...
,
Loddon RiverThe Loddon River is a 392-km long tributary of the Murray River that flows through central and northern Victoria, Australia. The river rises near Trentham and flows by Glenlyon. It then flows generally northward through Guildford and Newstead, 40km west of Bendigo through the Cairn Curran Reservoir...
,
Wimmera RiverThe Wimmera River is a river in Western Victoria, Australia. It begins in the Pyrenees, and flows into Lake Hindmarsh and Lake Albacutya, although in many years flows do not reach these terminal lakes and the river contracts to a series of pools of varying sizes...
, Elgin River,
Barwon RiverThe Barwon River rises in the Otway Ranges of Victoria, Australia, runs through Winchelsea and the city of Geelong, where it is joined by the Moorabool River, and enters the sea at Barwon Heads after passing through Lake Connewarre on the Bellarine Peninsula....
, Thomson River,
Snowy RiverThe Snowy River is a major river in south-eastern Australia. It originates on the slopes of Mount Kosciuszko, Australia's highest mainland peak, draining the eastern slopes of the Snowy Mountains in New South Wales, before flowing through the Snowy River National Park in Victoria and emptying into...
,
Latrobe RiverThe Latrobe River is a river in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. It begins in the Australian Alps, and flows south and east through the Latrobe Valley into Lake Wellington, one of the Gippsland Lakes. Tributaries include the Moe, Tanjil and Tyers Rivers....
,
Yarra RiverThe Yarra River, originally Birrarung, is a river in central Victoria, Australia. The lower stretches of the river is where the city of Melbourne was established in 1835 and today Greater Melbourne dominates and influences the landscape of its lower reaches...
,
Maribyrnong RiverThe Maribyrnong River rises about 50 km north of Melbourne, Victoria , near Mount Macedon. It flows generally southward and combines with the Yarra River to flow into Port Phillip....
, Mitta River, Hopkins River, Merri River and
Kiewa RiverThe Kiewa River is a major tributary of the Murray River in Australia.The river's headwaters include Victoria's highest mountain, Mount Bogong, and wind their way north-west about 100 kilometres, gradually slowing before joining the Murray east of Albury....
.
The state symbols include the
Pink HeathEpacris impressa, also known as Common Heath, is a shrub that is native to the south-east of Australia. The pink-flowered form, often referred to as Pink Heath, is the floral emblem of the state of Victoria.-Description:...
(state flower),
Leadbeater's PossumLeadbeater's Possum is an endangered possum restricted to small pockets of remaining old growth mountain ash forests in the central highlands of Victoria, Australia north-east of Melbourne...
(state animal) and the
Helmeted HoneyeaterThe Helmeted Honeyeater is a passerine bird in the Honeyeater family. It is a distinctive and critically endangered subspecies, formerly considered a full species, of the Yellow-tufted Honeyeater, that exists in the wild only as a tiny relict population in the Australian state of Victoria, in the...
(state bird).
The state's capital, Melbourne, contains approximately 70% of the state's population and dominates its economy, media, and culture. For other cities and towns, see
List of localities (Victoria) and
Local Government Areas of VictoriaThere are 79 Local Government Areas in the Australian state of Victoria. LGA's are constituted as cities, shires, rural cities and, in one case, a borough...
.
Transport
Victoria has the highest population density in any state in Australia, with population centres spread out over most of the state, with only the far northwest and the Victorian Alps lacking permanent settlement.
The Victorian road network services the population centres, with highways generally radiating from Melbourne and other major cities and rural centres with secondary roads interconnecting the highways to each other. Many of the highways are built to freeway standard ("M" freeways), while most are generally sealed and of reasonable quality.
Rail transport in VictoriaRail transport in Victoria, Australia, is provided by a number of railway operators who operate over the government owned railway lines. Victorian lines use broad gauge, with the exception of a number of standard gauge freight and interstate lines, a few experimental narrow gauge lines, and...
is provided by several private and public railway operators who operate over government-owned lines. Major operators include:
Connex MelbourneConnex Melbourne is a wholly owned subsidiary of French company Veolia Environnement, which has a franchise from the State Government of Victoria to operate all suburban passenger rail services in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. In August 2007, Connex's contract was extended to 30 November 2009...
which runs an extensive, electrified, passenger system throughout Melbourne and suburbs;
V/LineV/Line is a not for profit regional passenger train and coach service in Victoria, Australia. It was created after the split-up of VicRail in 1983. V/Line is owned by the V/Line Passenger Corporation which is a Victorian State Government statutory authority...
which is now owned by the Victorian Government, operates a concentrated service to major regional centres, as well as long distance services on other lines;
Pacific NationalPacific National is one of Australia's largest private rail freight businesses. Originally a joint venture between Patrick Corporation and Toll Holdings; it is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Asciano Limited following the restructure of Toll Holdings....
, CFCLA,
El ZorroEl Zorro can refer to:*El Zorro , Mexican professional wrestler*El Zorro , Australian railway operator...
which operate freight services;
Great Southern RailwayGreat Southern Railway can refer to:* Great Southern Railway - tourism and rail operator* Great Southern Railway - Former railway serving the South Gippsland region in Victoria, Australia...
which operates
The Overland|}The Overland is a passenger train between Melbourne and Adelaide, Australia. The train started in 1887 as the "Adelaide Express" and was given its current name in 1926. Now operated by private company Great Southern Railway, the train completes three return trips a week, travelling mostly during...
Melbourne-Adelaide; and
CountryLinkCountryLink is the operator of passenger rail services in country New South Wales, Australia and from New South Wales into Queensland and Victoria. It is an operating brand of the Rail Corporation New South Wales, a government-owned entity...
which operates XPTs Melbourne-Sydney.
There are also several smaller freight operators and numerous tourist railways operating over lines which were once parts of a state-owned system. Victorian lines mainly use the
broad gaugeRail gauge in Australia displays much variation, which is an ongoing problem for transportation on the continent.The most used gauges are* Standard gauge 17,678 km - mainly New South Wales and the interstate rail network...
. However, the interstate trunk routes, as well as a number of branch lines in the west of the state have been converted to
standard gaugeThe standard gauge is a widely-used rail gauge. Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...
. Two tourist railways operate over
narrow gaugeThe former Victorian Railways, the state railway authority in Victoria, Australia built a number of experimental narrow gauge railway lines around the beginning of the 20th century. Although all were closed by the early 1960s, parts of two have been reopened as heritage railways.- Background :A...
lines, which are the remnants of five formerly government-owned lines which were built in mountainous areas.
Melbourne has the world's largest
tram networkTrams in Melbourne, Australia, are a major form of public transport and Melbourne is home to the largest tram network in the world,...
, currently operated by
Yarra TramsYarra Trams is a tram operating company in Melbourne, Australia. It is a partnership between French company Transdev and Australian company Transfield Services...
. As well as being a popular form of public transport, over the last few decades trams have become one of Melbourne's major tourist attractions. There are also tourist trams operating over portions of the former Ballarat and Bendigo systems. There are also tramway museums at
BylandsThe Tramway Museum Society of Victoria was founded in 1962 in Victoria, Australia. Its aim is the preservation, restoration and operation of trams...
and Haddon.
Melbourne AirportMelbourne Airport , also known as Tullamarine Airport or the local colloquialism Tulla, is the primary airport serving the city of Melbourne and the second busiest in Australia. Located from the city centre, adjacent to the suburb of Tullamarine, it was opened in 1970 to replace the nearby...
is the major domestic and international gateway for the state.
Avalon AirportAvalon Airport is the second busiest of the four airports serving Melbourne and is located in Avalon, Victoria, Australia. It is located north-east of the city of Geelong and is to the south-west of the state's capital city of Melbourne....
is the state's second busiest airport, which is complements
EssendonEssendon Airport is located at Essendon Fields, in Melbourne's northern suburbs, Victoria, Australia. It is located next to the Tullamarine Freeway on , from the Melbourne Central Business District and from Melbourne Airport.- History :...
and
Moorabbin AirportMoorabbin Airport is a general aviation airport for light aircraft located in Mentone, Victoria. The airport grounds are treated as their own suburb, designated the postcode 3194. The airport opened in December 1949. Originally the intent was to name the airport "Mentone" but this was abandoned...
s to see the remainder of Melbourne's air traffic.
Hamilton AirportHamilton Airport is located about 12 km from Hamilton, Victoria, Australia. The airport is about 400km west of Melbourne and is home to Sharp Airlines and the Hamilton Aero Club. The terminal, called the "Sir RM Ansett terminal" is named after Reginald Miles Ansett....
,
Mildura AirportMildura Airport is located in Mildura, Victoria, Australia. It is the busiest regional airport in Victoria and has twice been named Australia's Rural Airport of the Year....
,
Mount HothamMount Hotham is a mountain in Victoria, Australia. It is home to Mount Hotham Village, and Mount Hotham Ski Resort. The mountain is located approximately 357 kilometres north east of Melbourne, 746 kilometres from Sydney, and 997 kilometres from Adelaide by road. Mount Hotham's summit rises to an...
and
Portland AirportPortland Airport is located at Portland, Victoria, Australia, 365 km southwest of Melbourne along the Princes Highway. The airport is home to the Portland Aero Club and the Sharp Airlines maintenance base....
are the remaining airports with scheduled domestic flights. There are no fewer than 27
other airports in the state with no scheduled flights.
The
Port of MelbourneThe Port of Melbourne is Australia's busiest port for containerised and general cargo. It is located in Melbourne, Victoria on the mouth of the Yarra River, which is at the head of Port Phillip Bay...
is the largest port for containerised and general cargo in Australia, and is located in
MelbourneMelbourne is the capital city and most populous city of the State of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne city centre is the anchor of the larger geographical area and statistical division known as the Greater Melbourne metropolitan area – of which Melbourne is...
on the mouth of the
Yarra RiverThe Yarra River, originally Birrarung, is a river in central Victoria, Australia. The lower stretches of the river is where the city of Melbourne was established in 1835 and today Greater Melbourne dominates and influences the landscape of its lower reaches...
, which is at the head of Port Phillip Bay. Additional seaports are at Westernport Bay,
GeelongThe Port of Geelong is located on the shores of Corio Bay in Geelong, Victoria, Australia. The port is the sixth-largest in Australia by tonnage....
, and
PortlandThe city of Portland is the oldest European settlement in what is now the state of Victoria, Australia. It is the main urban centre of the Shire of Glenelg. It is located on Portland Bay.-History:...
.
Climate
Average monthly maximum
temperature in Victoria |
| Month |
Melbourne |
Mildura |
| January |
25.8 °C |
32.8 °C |
| February |
25.8 °C |
32.7 °C |
| March |
23.8 °C |
29.3 °C |
| April |
20.2 °C |
24.1 °C |
| May |
16.6 °C |
19.6 °C |
| June |
14.0 °C |
16.0 °C |
| July |
13.4 °C |
15.4 °C |
| August |
14.9 °C |
17.7 °C |
| September |
17.2 °C |
21.1 °C |
| October |
19.6 °C |
25.0 °C |
| November |
21.8 °C |
29.0 °C |
| December |
24.1 °C |
31.7 °C |
| Source: Bureau of Meteorology |
Victoria has a varied climate despite its small size. It ranges from semi-arid and hot in the north-west, to temperate and cool along the coast. Victoria's main land feature, the Great Dividing Range, produces a cooler, mountain climate in the centre of the state.
Victoria's southernmost position on the Australian mainland means it is cooler and wetter than other mainland states and territories. The coastal plain south of the Great Dividing Range has Victoria's mildest climate. Air from the
Southern OceanThe Southern Ocean, also known as the Great Southern Ocean, the Antarctic Ocean and the South Polar Ocean, comprises the southernmost waters of the World Ocean south of 60° S latitude. The International Hydrographic Organization has designated the Southern Ocean as an oceanic division encircling...
helps reduce the heat of summer and the cold of winter. Melbourne and other large cities are located in this temperate region.
The
MalleeMallee may refer to:* Mallee , the habit of woody plants that grow with multiple stems from underground lignotubers* Mallee , a biogeographic region in southern Western Australia...
and upper
WimmeraThe Wimmera is a region in the west of the Australian state of Victoria.It covers the dryland farming area south of the range of Mallee scrub, east of the South Australia border and north of the Great Dividing Range...
are Victoria's warmest regions with hot winds blowing from nearby deserts. Average temperatures top 30 °C (86 °F) during summer and 15 °C (59 °F) in winter. Victoria's highest maximum temperature of 50.7 °C (123.26 °F) was recorded in Mildura on 7 January 1906.
The Victorian Alps in the northeast are the coldest part of Victoria. The Alps are part of the Great Dividing Range mountain system extending east-west through the centre of Victoria. Average temperatures are less than 9 °C (48 °F) in winter and below 0 °C (32 °F) in the highest parts of the ranges. The state's lowest minimum temperature of –12.8 °C (9.0 °F) was recorded at
Mount HothamMount Hotham is a mountain in Victoria, Australia. It is home to Mount Hotham Village, and Mount Hotham Ski Resort. The mountain is located approximately 357 kilometres north east of Melbourne, 746 kilometres from Sydney, and 997 kilometres from Adelaide by road. Mount Hotham's summit rises to an...
on 13 August 1947.
Rainfall
Victoria is the wettest Australian state after
TasmaniaTasmania is an Australian island and state. It is located south of the eastern side of the continent, from which it is separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania – the 26th largest island in the world – and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 500,000 ,...
. Rainfall in Victoria increases from north to south, with higher averages in areas of high altitude. Median annual rainfall exceeds 1,800 millimetres (71 in) in some parts of the northeast but is less than 250 millimetres (10 in) in the Mallee.
Rain is heaviest in the Otway Ranges and Gippsland in southern Victoria and in the mountainous northeast. Snow generally falls only in the mountains and hills in the centre of the state. Rain falls most frequently in winter, but summer precipitation is heavier. Rainfall is most reliable in Gippsland and the
Western DistrictThe Western District is a region of Australia located in the south-west corner of the state of Victoria , extending to Ballarat in the east and as far north as Ararat where it borders the Wimmera region. To the south, the district extends to Bass Strait and the Southern Ocean and to the east it...
, making them both leading farming areas. Victoria's highest recorded daily rainfall was 375 millimetres (14.7 in) at Tanybryn in the Otway Ranges on 22 March 1983.
| Source: Bureau of Meteorology, Department of Primary Industries, Australian Natural Resources Atlas |
Tourism
Some major tourist destinations in Victoria are:
- The metropolis of Melbourne, particular its inner city suburbs (known also for shopping tourism) and the attractions of the city centre
Melbourne also known as the Melbourne city centre is a locality surrounded by metropolitan Melbourne which comprises the original settlement, the central business district, parkland and other built-up areas...
such as Crown CasinoCrown Casino and Entertainment Complex is a casino and entertainment precinct on the south bank of the Yarra River, in Melbourne, Australia attracting on average 16 million visitors yearly, making it the largest casino in Australia. Crown Casino is a unit of Crown Limited.The complex was designed...
, Melbourne ZooThe Royal Melbourne Zoological Gardens, commonly known as the Melbourne Zoo, contains more than 460 animal species from Australia and around the world. The zoo is 4 km north of the centre of Melbourne...
, Melbourne MuseumMelbourne Museum is located in the Carlton Gardens in Melbourne, Australia, adjacent the Royal Exhibition Building.It is the largest museum in the Southern Hemisphere, and is a venue of Museum Victoria, which also operates the Immigration Museum and Scienceworks Museum.The museum has seven main...
, the Melbourne AquariumMelbourne Aquarium is a Southern Ocean and Antarctic aquarium in central Melbourne, Australia. It is located on the banks of the Yarra River beside and under the Flinders Street Viaduct and the King Street Bridge.-History:...
,Science Works, Healsville Sanctuary, Werribee open range zoo, tourism precincts such as Melbourne DocklandsDocklands is an inner city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia occupying an area extending up to 2 km west of and adjacent to Melbourne's Central Business District . Its Local Government Area is the City of Melbourne...
, SouthbankSouthbank is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, on the south side of the Yarra River, opposite Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area are the Cities of Melbourne and Port Phillip...
and St KildaSt Kilda is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km south from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Port Phillip...
as well as cultural and sporting tourist icons such as The Arts Centre, National Gallery of VictoriaThe National Gallery of Victoria is an art gallery and museum in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is the oldest and the largest public art gallery in Australia...
, the Melbourne Cricket GroundThe Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park in inner Melbourne, home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the largest stadium in Australia, and holds the world record for the highest light towers at any sporting venue. The MCG is within walking distance of...
, also known as the MCGJoseph McGinty Nichol , better known as McG, is an American director and producer of film and television, as well as a former record producer. He began his career in the music industry, directing music videos and producing various albums...
, and the Eureka TowerEureka Tower is a skyscraper located in the Southbank precinct of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Construction began in August 2002 and the exterior completed on 1 June 2006. The plaza was finished in June 2006 and the building was officially opened on 11 October 2006...
, tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere, with its Skydeck 88.
- The former Goldfields region featuring the historic cities of Ballarat, Beechworth, Bendigo, Castlemaine
Castlemaine is a city in Victoria, Australia, in the "Goldfields" region about 120 kilometres northwest by road from Melbourne, and about 40 kilometres from the major provincial centre of Bendigo...
, MaldonMaldon is a town in Victoria, Australia, in the Shire of Mount Alexander local government area. It has been designated "Australia's first notable town" and is celebrated for its 19th-century appearance, maintained since gold-rush days...
and DaylesfordDaylesford is a town located in the Shire of Hepburn, Victoria, Australia. It is a former goldmining town about 115 kilometres north-west of Melbourne, in the foothills of the Great Dividing Range. At the 2006 census, Daylesford had a population of 3,073...
.
- Natural attractions, such as The Twelve Apostles
The Twelve Apostles is a collection of limestone stacks off the shore of the Port Campbell National Park, by the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, Australia. Their proximity to one another has made the site a popular tourist attraction. Originally the site was called the Sow and Piglets. Muttonbird...
, Wilson's Promontory, The GrampiansThe Grampians National Park is a national park in Victoria, Australia, 235 kilometres west of Melbourne. The Park was listed on the National Heritage List on 15 December 2006 for its outstanding natural beauty and being one of the richest Indigenous rock art sites in south-eastern Australia.The...
, the Fairy PenguinsThe Little Penguin is the smallest species of penguin. The penguin, which is about 43 cm tall, is found on the coastlines of southern Australia and New Zealand, with possible records from Chile....
(particularly at Phillip Island and St KildaSt Kilda is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km south from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Port Phillip...
), the Buchan CavesThe Buchan Caves are a group of caves that include Royal Cave and Fairy Cave, located in Buchan, Victoria, with limestone formations created by underground rivers cutting through limestone rock almost 400 million years ago...
and the Gippsland LakesThe Gippsland Lakes are a network of lakes, marshes and lagoons in east Gippsland, Victoria, Australia covering an area of about 600 km sq, The largest of the lakes are Lake Wellington , Lake King and Lake Victoria...
.
- The Dandenong Ranges
The Dandenong Ranges, originally known as Corhanwarrabul, are a set of low mountain ranges, rising to 633 metres at Mount Dandenong, approximately 35 km east of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia...
(in particular the Puffing Billy RailwayThe Puffing Billy Railway is a narrow gauge gauge heritage railway in the Dandenong Ranges near Melbourne, Australia. The primary starting point, operations and administration centre, main refreshment room and ticket purchasing are located at Belgrave station...
).
- Towns along the Murray River and Riverina including Echuca
Echuca is a town located on the banks of the Murray River in Victoria, Australia. Twin town Moama is on the northern side of the river in New South Wales. Its location at the closest point of the Murray to Melbourne contributed to its development as a thriving river port city during the 1800s...
and Mildura including waterskiing.
- Geelong
Geelong is the second largest city in the state of Victoria, Australia and is the largest regional centre in the state. It is a port city with an urban population of 160,991 people, and one of the largest provincial cities in Australia...
(particularly the city's waterfront) and the Australian International AirshowThe Australian International Airshow is a large airshow held every two years at Avalon Airport, between Melbourne and Geelong, Victoria. It has been said by air show organisers to be the largest airshow in the southern hemisphere...
- The Bellarine Peninsula
The Bellarine Peninsula is a peninsula located south-west of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, surrounded by Port Phillip, Corio Bay and Bass Strait. The peninsula, together with the Mornington Peninsula separates Port Phillip from Bass Strait...
which features historic resort towns such as QueenscliffQueenscliff is a small town on the Bellarine Peninsula at the entrance to Port Phillip in southern Victoria, Australia and is bounded on its north side by the environmentally important Swan Bay. It is part of the Borough of Queenscliffe, which also includes the neighbouring town of Point Lonsdale....
.
- The Surf Coast which features famous beaches such as Bells Beach, Torquay
Torquay is a township in Victoria, Australia, which faces Bass Strait, 21 km. south of Geelong and is the gateway to the Great Ocean Road. It is bordered on the west by Spring Creek and its coastal features include Point Danger and Zeally Bay...
and Lorne
- Mornington Peninsula
The Mornington Peninsula is a peninsula located south-east of Melbourne in Central Victoria, Australia. It is surrounded by Port Phillip to the west, Western Port to the east and Bass Strait to the south, and is connected to the mainland in the north. Geographically, the peninsula begins its...
, particularly for its wineries and secluded beaches, Arthur's Seat and the coastal attractions of PortseaPortsea is a resort town located across Port Phillip from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its Local Government Area is the Shire of Mornington Peninsula....
and SorrentoSorrento is a township in Victoria, Australia, located on the shores of Port Phillip on the Mornington Peninsula, about one and a half hours south of Melbourne...
.
- Yarra Valley
The Yarra Valley is the name given to the region surrounding the Yarra River in Victoria, Australia. The river originates in the Yarra Ranges approximately 80 kilometres east of Melbourne and flows towards and into the city of Melbourne and out into Port Phillip...
(in particular Healesville SanctuaryHealesville Sanctuary, or the Sir Colin MacKenzie Fauna Park, is a zoo specializing in native Australian animals. It is located at Healesville in rural Victoria, Australia, and has a history of breeding native animals. It is one of only two places to have successfully bred a platypus, the other...
and wineries).
- Great Ocean Road
The Great Ocean Road is a 243 km stretch of road along the south-eastern coast of Australia between the Victorian cities of Torquay and Warrnambool. The road was constructed to provide work for returning soldiers and dedicated as a Memorial to those killed in the First World War...
, which features The Twelve Apostles, historic towns of Port FairyPort Fairy is a coastal town in western Victoria, Australia. It lies on the Princes Highway in the Shire of Moyne, west of Warrnambool and 290 km west of Melbourne, at the point where the Moyne River enters the Southern Ocean.-History:...
and PortlandThe city of Portland is the oldest European settlement in what is now the state of Victoria, Australia. It is the main urban centre of the Shire of Glenelg. It is located on Portland Bay.-History:...
, cliffs and whale watching and resort towns such as LorneLorne is a seaside town on Louttit Bay in Victoria, Australia. It is situated about the Erskine River and is a popular destination on the Great Ocean Road tourist route. The town has a postcode of 3232...
.
- The Victorian Alpine Region, part of the Australian Alps
The Australian Alps are the highest mountain ranges of mainland Australia. They are located in south-eastern Australia and straddle the Australian Capital Territory, south-eastern New South Wales and eastern Victoria...
, particularly for skiing
- The Central Victorian Highlands, 'Highcountry' are very well known for winter sports and bushwalking
Other popular tourism activities are gliding, hang-gliding, hot air ballooning and scuba diving.
Major events also play a big part in tourism in Victoria, particularly cultural tourism and sports tourism. Most of these events are centred around Melbourne, but others occur in regional cities, such as the V8 Supercars and Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix at Phillip Island, the Grand Annual Steeplechase at Warrnambool and the
Australian International AirshowThe Australian International Airshow is a large airshow held every two years at Avalon Airport, between Melbourne and Geelong, Victoria. It has been said by air show organisers to be the largest airshow in the southern hemisphere...
at Geelong and numerous local festivals such as the popular Port Fairy Folk Festival,
Queenscliff Music FestivalQueenscliff Music Festival is a live music festival held in the town of Queenscliff, located on the Bellarine Peninsula, Victoria, Australia. The festival began in 1997 and is held annually on the last weekend of November.- External links :* * *...
, Bells Beach SurfClassic and the
BrightBright , is a small sized town, located in Victoria, Australia, 319 metres above sea level and in North Eastern Victoria at the southeastern end of the Ovens Valley. At the 2006 census, Bright has a population of 2684...
Autumn Festival.
Sport
Victoria is the home of
Australian rules footballAustralian football, also commonly referred to as Australian rules football, football, or Aussie rules, colloquially as footy, and historically as Australasian football or Victorian football, is a variant of football played between two teams of 18 players, plus four interchange players, outdoors on...
, with ten of the sixteen clubs of the
Australian Football LeagueThe Australian Football League is the major professional Australian national competition in the sport of Australian football and is arguably Australia's biggest sporting competition in terms of membership, corporate sponsorship and attendances .The league comprises 16 teams which play 22 home and...
based in Victoria, and the traditional
Grand FinalThe AFL Grand Final is an annual Australian rules football match, traditionally held on the final Saturday in September at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne, Australia to determine the Australian Football League premiership champions....
held at the
Melbourne Cricket GroundThe Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park in inner Melbourne, home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the largest stadium in Australia, and holds the world record for the highest light towers at any sporting venue. The MCG is within walking distance of...
usually on the last Saturday in September.
Victoria's cricket team, the
Victorian BushrangersThe Victorian Bushrangers is an Australian cricket team based in Melbourne, that represents the state of Victoria. It is administered by Cricket Victoria and draws its players from Melbourne's Premier Cricket competition...
play in the national Sheffield Shield cricket competition. Victoria is represented in the
National Rugby LeagueThe National Rugby League is the top league of professional rugby league football clubs in Australasia. The NRL competition is contested by sixteen teams, fifteen of which are based in Australia with one based in New Zealand...
by the
Melbourne StormThe Melbourne Storm are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the city of Melbourne, Victoria. They have competed in every season of the National Rugby League Premiership since its inception in 1998 and are the first fully-professional rugby league team based in the...
and is also represented in Football (soccer) by
Melbourne VictoryMelbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional football club in the Australian A-League. Based in Melbourne, Victoria, Melbourne Victory FC is the largest club in the league, drawing the largest average crowds of any club and consistently setting league and domestic club football...
in the
A-LeagueThe A-League is the premier Australasian domestic football competition. Run by Australian governing body Football Federation Australia, it was founded in 2004 following the collapse of the National Soccer League and staged its inaugural season in 2005-06...
.
Melbourne has held the
1956 Summer OlympicsThe 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was held in Melbourne, Australia, in 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, which could not be held in Australia due to quarantine regulations...
,
2006 Commonwealth GamesThe 2006 Commonwealth Games were held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia between 15 March and 26 March 2006. It was the largest sporting event to be staged in Melbourne, eclipsing the 1956 Summer Olympics in terms of the number of teams competing, athletes competing, and events being held.The site...
, FINA World Swimming Championship, and is home to the annual
Australian OpenThe Australian Open is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments held each year. The tournament is held each January at Melbourne Park. The tournament was held for the first time in 1905 and was contested on grass from then up to 1987. Since 1988, the tournament has been held on hard...
tennis tournament, and the Australian Formula One
Grand PrixThe Australian Grand Prix is a Formula One race that is part of the annual FIA Formula One World Championship. It is held at the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit at Albert Park in Melbourne. Prior to its inclusion in the World Championship it was held annually from 1928 to 1984 at various venues in...
.
Victoria is also home to Bells Beach, which is the home of the world's longest-running surfing competition, the Bells Beach SurfClassic, which is part of The ASP World Tour.
NetballNetball is a sport in which two teams of seven players try to score points against each other by placing a ball through a raised goal. The sport is popular in Commonwealth countries and is predominantly played by women. Netball shares many similarities with basketball, having been derived from...
is a big part of sport in Victoria. The
Melbourne VixensThe Melbourne Vixens are an Australian netball team that compete in the trans-Tasman ANZ Championship. They are an amalgamation of the Melbourne Phoenix and Melbourne Kestrels from the previous Commonwealth Bank Trophy. Sharelle McMahon and Bianca Chatfield are co-captains of the Vixens in 2009,...
represent Victoria in the
ANZ ChampionshipThe ANZ Championship is an elite netball competition in Australia and New Zealand, contested between five teams from each country. It began in April 2008, succeeding Australia's Commonwealth Bank Trophy and New Zealand's National Bank Cup as the highest level of competitive netball in these countries...
. Some of the worlds best netballers such as
Sharelle McMahonSharelle McMahon is an Australian netball player, and current captain of the Australian national netball team. McMahon plays in the goal attack and goal shooter positions, and is known for her remarkable speed in sprinting, dodging, passing, fast reflexes and elevation...
, Julie Corletto and
Bianca ChatfieldBianca Lee Chatfield is an Australian netball player. In 2001, she was selected for the Australian team to tour three-nations test series against England and New Zealand in England....
come from Victoria.
Possibly Victoria's most famous island, Phillip Island, is home of the
Phillip Island Grand Prix CircuitPhillip Island Grand Prix Circuit is a racing circuit in Phillip Island, Victoria, Australia-Old Track:The first races on Phillip Island took place in 1926 with the running of the 100 Miles Road Race, an event which has since become known as the first Australian Grand Prix...
which hosts the
Australian motorcycle Grand PrixThe Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix is a motorcycling event that is part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It is held each year at the scenic Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit.-Winners of the Australian motorcycle Grand Prix:...
which features
MotoGPstyle="float:right"|-|Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix is the premier championship of motorcycle road racing currently divided into three distinct classes: 125cc, 250cc , and MotoGP...
(the world's premier motorcycling class), as well as the Australian round of the World Superbike Championship and the domestic
V8 SupercarV8 Supercars is a touring car racing category based in Australia and run as an International Series under Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile regulations...
racing, which also visits
Sandown RacewaySandown International Raceway is a motor racing circuit in Melbourne, Victoria, approximately south east of the city centre.-History:Sandown Racecourse was first built as a horse racing facility, dating back into the 19th century, but closed in the 1930s in a government run rationalisation...
and the rural
Winton Motor RacewayWinton Motor Raceway is a Motor Racing track in Winton, near Benalla, Victoria, Australia.-History:The Benalla Auto Club began planning for a permanent racing track around 1958. In 1960 it was decided to build the track at Winton Recreation Reserve and was completed in twelve months.The first race...
circuit.
Australia's most prestigious footrace, the
Stawell GiftThe Stawell Gift is Australia's oldest and richest short distance running race. It is run over every Easter weekend, with the main race finals on the holiday Monday, at Central Park, Stawell in the Grampian Mountains district of western Victoria. The race is run on grass over 120 metres up a...
, is an annual event.
Victoria is also home to the Aussie Millions poker tournament, the richest in the southern hemisphere.
The
Melbourne Spring Racing CarnivalThe Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival is the name of a Melbourne, Australia Thoroughbred horse racing series held annually during October and November .-The Carnival and its status in the wider community:...
is one of the biggest horse racing events in the world and is one of the world's largest sporting events. The main race is for the $6 million
Melbourne CupThe Melbourne Cup is Australia's major annual Thoroughbred horse race. Billed as The race that stops a nation, it is a race for three-year-olds and over, over a distance of 3,200 metres. It is the richest and most prestigious "two-mile" handicap in the world, and one of the richest turf races in...
, and crowds for the carnival exceed 700,000.
See also
- 2003 Melbourne thunderstorm
The 2003 Melbourne thunderstorm was a severe weather event that occurred over the city of Melbourne, Australia, and surrounding areas of Victoria, from 1 December to 6 December 2003...
- List of highways in Victoria
- List of localities (Victoria)
- Protected areas of Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the smallest mainland state in Australia. It contains 1966 separate Protected Areas with a total land area of 33,780 km² . Of these, 36 are National parks, totalling 25,774 km² ....
- Atlas of Victorian Birds
The Atlas of Victorian Birds is a bird atlas, published in 1987, covering the distribution of birds in the Australian state of Victoria. It is based largely on 615,000 field records of birds in Victoria from the Atlas of Australian Birds database, gathered by volunteers in the course of the Royal...
- Goombala Road
Goombala Road is a major throughway within Tarra-Bulga National Park in South Gippsland, Australia. It runs the inside border of the park. A recent program has provided time-lapse photo monitoring on Goombala Road to track changes in the ecosystem. A camera has been placed at the intersection of...
- Victorian Alps
- Vicmap Topographic Map Series
Vicmap Topographic Map Series is a series of topographic maps covering the State of Victoria, Australia. Created and maintained by the State of Victoria, the map series is currently in a transition phase, with traditional Vicmap Topographic maps being gradually replaced with a new map...
External links